So, I was watching the TV last night and I saw a Foreclosure Tour Bus. I must tell you I wish I would have come up with this one. The Realtors rent tour buses, and take a whole bus full of people to go and look at 10 houses over the course of 4 hours. The people on the bus are looking to grab a great deal on a foreclosed property, and most of them were serious buyers. Just think about it, you have a bus full of clients instead of having to show the house to one person at a time you now are showing to 20-30 people at the same time, and increasing you chance as a realtor to land a sell.

This just goes to show that no matter where the market is, if you will be cutting edge, and try something innovative, you can still make money. These were not the Realtors sitting in their office thinking about flipping burgers at McDonald’s, but these are the true hard core Realtors that when times are tough they think of something to spark interest, and increase traffic and sales.

The lesson from the Foreclosure Tour Bus is to try to think of new ways to make money. Don’t be like everyone else because everyone else is broke. Get out of the box and live a little, and come up with some great idea’s that are going to make you prosper.

By Mike Herman

What are the best companies for student loan consolidation? There are many ways to handle paying your college loans. Many graduates prefer to consolidate their multiple college loans into one loan. Contacting one of the many companies that lend money specifically for student loan consolidation helps make the decision to consolidate much easier.

Even if you can make the monthly payments from your original loans, you may still want to consider consolidating to lower your payments and free up money for other bills with higher interest rates. Using some of the best companies for student loan consolidation helps make the process easier rather than going to a company that doesn’t specialize in student loan consolidationsA consolidation loan lets you combine all your federal student loans into one single loan. Consolidation loans have fixed interest rates that are based on a weighted average of all the loans you are consolidating. You can gain a lower total interest rate if you contact companies that provide loans at the lowest average interest rate. This protects you from future rate increases, but does not allow you to benefit if variable rates decrease in the future. You can also get decreased interest rates by making regular payments or simply allowing your payments to be drafted directly from your bank account.

Consider The Cost

Repayments on consolidated loans begin within 60 days of consolidation and have payback terms between 10 and 30 years depending on the amount of the loan and the payment options you select. Some of the best consolidation companies for student loan consolidation will have a variety of plans for repayment, so you’re sure to find one that matches your circumstances. You can also pay your loans off early and there is generally no fee associated with doing so.

While loan consolidation can simplify loan payments and lower your monthly bill by as much as 50%, it can increase the total cost of paying off your loan. Consolidation companies are able to offer lower monthly payments by extending the life of the loan. This fact means that the amount of interest you pay may double by the time you pay off the loan. If you don’t need the payment relief offered by consolidation, you should carefully consider the cost of paying your non-consolidated loans against the cost of loan consolidation.

You should also consider the fact that once consolidated; you will lose many of the benefits of a non-consolidated loan such as discounts on your interest rate, principle rebates, or loan cancellation benefits, all of which can decrease the amount of your loan.

College loan repayments don’t have to be a source of stress in your young adulthood. If you are doing all you can to make your monthly payments, but still can’t find a way to make ends meet it may be best that you contact one of the many companies that offer student loan consolidation. Don’t struggle, investigate today.

First, let me start by saying if you do not have life insurance it is a must especially if you have a family. Stay away from the cash value/savings life insurance plans they are a joke. Those types of plans pay no interest to you, instead they hold your money and keep the interest for themselves. They are making thousands of dollars off of your money that you could have made if you would have instead put that money in a IRA or growth stock mutual fund.

Term life insurance equals low cost for the same coverage, I just got my term life insurance for around $15.00 a month through Zander Insurance. Once you switch to Term Life Insurance you have a extra hundred dollars or so to invest with, and start building a portfolio for your family.

When purchasing term life insurance you want to buy about 6 years worth of your annual income, so if you make $50,000 a year you would need $250,000 - $300,000 in term life insurance.

I love making money, but even more I love having money left over after I make some, and for this reason I have become a huge Dave Ramsey fan. I am on the road to being completely debt free, and it’s because one day I was thinking about, and I was paying a quarter of my paycheck to credit card companies with 10-25% interest. I finally set down with my wife and we decided not to use credit cards any more, and live on what we make. This Christmas we set a budget, and only bought presents with cash, and did not spend anything on credit, and I will tell you that the day after Christmas felt great to not have to worry about all the money we racked up on credit cards.

Dave Ramsey teaches you to pay off you debt, save, and invest for the future. He is a millionaire made over many times, and this is one of the reasons I will listen to him. I do not take any financial advice from people that are not successful. Dave Ramsey has a common sense approach to paying off debt that is extremely easy for anyone to understand. If you are in debt and cannot see the light at the end of the tunnel you might want to get one of his books or check out his website. I recommend his top selling book “The Total Money Makeover.” This is the book that has got my business and my family on the road to financial freedom.